


Bad Surprises

by josephina_x



Series: the roommies ficlets 'verse [2]
Category: Smallville
Genre: Gen, Roommates, Slice of Life, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-13
Updated: 2013-03-13
Packaged: 2017-12-05 05:15:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/719276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/josephina_x/pseuds/josephina_x
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lex does not like surprises. They remind him too much of too many kidnappings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bad Surprises

**Author's Note:**

> Title: Bad Surprises  
> Author: [josephina_x](http://josephina-x.livejournal.com)  
> Fandom: Smallville  
> Pairing: Clark, Lex (or Clark/Lex if you prefer)  
> Rating: PG (unless you want to put your mind in the gutter, in which case, R and fadeout before it goes NC-17 :-P )  
> Spoilers: general for the series, I guess assume either a rift-what-rift or other standard kiss-and-make-up situation as prior backstory  
> Word count: 1500+  
> Summary: Lex does not like surprises. They remind him too much of too many kidnappings.  
> Warnings: Un-beta'd.  
> Disclaimer: Not mine, not-for-profit.  
> Comments: Yes, please! :)  
> Author's Note: Meh. This and all others in the series are Clark-is-living-with-Lex-and-they-love-each-other fic(let)s. I leave it up to you to decide whether it's platonic, romatic, or carnal love, and how they got there. Whichever. *shrugs*

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh, c'mon Lex -- just one more?" the woman cajoled, as he gamely made his way down the steps after her and twilight began to enroach upon them. This had been the twelfth housing complex after which she'd used this particular complaint on him, and he'd seen well more than twelve units with her that day.

"Remind me again why I agreed to do this?" he muttered out loud, pinching the bridge of his nose in a gesture well-known for performing effective short-term stress relief upon oneself, but he could have been yodeling the main chorus line of Ave Maria in latin for all that the woman noticed or understood. He fought, and failed, to suppress a grimace as the woman grabbed his free hand at the wrist and hurried him along with a hard yank, but when the woman glanced back at him, she only laughed at his hestiation, and possibly also his _irritation_.

Finally, they were standing in front of the "just one more," walking up the stairs of the rather conservatively-sized townhouse at the outskirts of the city... at least when one accounted for the size of the budget that this particular wyoung woman was working off of.

She pulled the keys to the house out of her pocket, and Lex frowned slightly.

"Oh, I got them from the realtor for the place yesterday," the woman waved off breezily, fiddling with the keys to get them into the correct locks and turn the tumblers to let them in.

The place was dark as night inside, with the ambient light of the city not helping cast much more than their shadows before them, and Lex frowned, glancing at the heavy shades over the window, seen from porch. He turned towards the woman with a question in his eyes.

"Age before beauty," the woman said with a smile, gesturing at the interior.

Lex stifled a sigh at the now-common turn of phrase, also repeated far too many times over the course of the day, and stepped into the doorway, slipping his left hand up the wall in an automatic reflex, searching for a lightswitch at the common location.

He was shoved roughly from behind and heard the front door slammed.

He staggered forward and barely regained his footing before he hit the floor, though with how badly he'd been shaken, he'd almost wished he'd simply taken the tumble, tucked and rolled, and come up a bit more steady. Unfortunately, with no idea what furniture might be in the room, or where, he realized as his eyes flicked back and forth as he swiveled his head about, trying to scan the room, he would have run the risk of hitting something head-first, so-- perhaps not.

He slid from a crouch into a wary upright stance, eyes failing to adjust to his pitch-black surroundings.

He heard a single footstep behind him and whirled, then winced as the lights suddenly came on.

The cute little bitch -- who was apparently far more dangerous than she seemed -- stood by the doorway with her finger on the switch, grinning widely. She must have come in right after him.

Lex braced himself, straightening slightly, every nerve on edge, his mind racing as he wondered frantically where her partners in crime were, because surely she would not be standing there unarmed so confidently unless he heard at least one heavy breath-- they were right behind him -- 

" _ **SURPRISE!!!**_ "

Lex whirled in utter shock, staring.

There was a great deal of laughter from all sides, as people slid out of hiding places with grins and festive looks and a great deal of merriment.

"Oh, man," the woman gasped behind him. "You guys-- you guys should've seen the look on his face when--!"

"Oh, we saw enough," Oliver Queen said, stepping forward with Chloe Sullivan at his elbow, grinning with a sharp glint in his eye. He slapped Lex on the shoulder heavily and laughed. "C'mon, man, enjoy the party -- Lucy had the hard job, y'know."

"I did!" the young woman by the door said. "You have _no_ idea how long it took to get his guard down."

Blast it. All that _repetition_. Damn. Lex mad a mental note to add that to his list of warning triggers.

"Well, we did tell ya to give us enough time to set up properly," Lois said with a snort, looking Lex up and down. "Hope you're okay with the open bar already being... open," she ended lamely, before turning on a heel and stalking back over for another drink.

Lucy came up beside him and took his arm, grinning.

Lex let her, then had to fight down the urge to slap her.

"You bought this place yesterday," Lex said slowly, rethinking the presence of the little trinket she'd had on the keychain.

"Yep," Lucy said brightly. "Signed for it yesterday. You like?"

Lex stared down at her.

_Hmm, let's see. I wasted my entire day helping you look at houses when you already had one. Do 'I like'?_

Lex plastered on a smile and said, "It's lovely," without even bothering to look around.

After all, he knew Lois' little sister didn't care about substance, just the veneer of nicety on the surface was enough. She wasn't actually seeking anyone else's opinion; only her own mattered. Sometimes he wondered how the hell General Lane's daughters had ended up so very different from the man.

Well, at least he owed the General one less favor, now.

True to form, Lucy grinned up at him brightly, not paying the least bit of attention to what he actually thought, communicated quite clearly through the tension in his shoulders and arms.

He let her drag him into the party, and he played nice, kept his teeth behind his lips and his claws sheathed. It wasn't as though she'd wanted to hurt him. She just didn't care.

There might be people he knew here, but none knew him. Certainly, none were present for more than the party. He had no friends here.

He stayed for appearances and reputation's sake, but that was the only reason why.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Lex sighed and loosened his tie, before giving up and just pulling the whole mess apart with two fingers.

He staggered across the threshold, caught his foot on the landing, and nearly tipped over, until he found himself caught up midair and cradled in strong, sturdy, steady arms.

"Hey, Clark," he mumbled quietly up at his friend.

"Lex," he heard Clark sigh as he was righted by him, set back onto his feet. "You okay?"

"Surprise party," Lex sighed back, leaning into his friend's chest and curling his fingers into his lapels.

"Oh," said Clark. "Um. Sorry."

Lex felt the wince, and remembered a surprise party at the Talon, years upon years ago.

"Clark, I don't mind when you do it," he told him consolingly, trying to soothe away the guilt before it reared its ugly head. Clark did guilt like nobody's business, and Lex had already had a bad enough day as it was. "Although I would be happier if you rescued me from such things." Sometimes Lex wondered if Clark was getting a little lax in his rescues, if only because the boy-turned-man knew that he'd see Lex at the end of the day, and so did not have to worry and fret seeking after his presence however he could find it, no matter what form it might take.

"Yeah, well, Chloe was pretty careful about everything," Clark told him. "I didn't have any idea what was up until I heard your heart go practically through the roof."

"And showing up suddenly to whisk me away would cause too many questions," Lex muttered, unreasonably angry with the world at that moment.

Clark gave a long-suffering, patient sigh. "It's fine, Lex. Really."

"Isn't," Lex muttered, finally letting himself slowly relax in Clark's arms. He let his hands drop down to Clark's waist, then slipped them behind Clark's back and held on for awhile.

Cuddling standing up. Nothing like it. Beat out only by cuddling lying down.

They stood there for awhile, just breathing and enjoying each other's presence. It was glorious.

"C'mon," Clark said finally, drawing away slowly to look down at his 'roommate' and best friend. "I've got cake and ice cream and stuff in the kitchen." He slipped his hands around Lex's wrists, and tugged ever so slightly.

"Fine," Lex said imperiously, making it clear by his tone that after an evening of drunken debauchery -- or what had passed for it, anyway, at what had been Lucy's housewarming party more than a birthday party meant for him -- that he had very low expectations of this new late-night event being sprung on him and was only putting up with this shit because he was being a good housemate, when he'd much rather just go to bed.

Clark's brilliant grin lit up the room as he led Lex forward, slowly walking backwards, and step by step coaxed him to follow.

Lex felt the corners of his mouth lift, against his will. Traitorous lips.

It wasn't a surprise party, he told himself, if it was an _expected_ surprise.

~*~*~*~*~*~


End file.
